Tag: Pop (31-40 of 872)

May 2 2013 09:21 AM ET

Janelle Monae and Erykah Badu slink through 'Q.U.E.E.N.' video: Watch it here!

The sexy, slinky, impossibly funky grooves of Janelle Monae’s new Erykah Badu-assisted single “Q.U.E.E.N.” demanded a next-level video, and the forward-thinking Monae has certainly delivered.

Last night, Monae pulled back the curtain on her new clip, which takes place in an alternate future that casts Monae and her musical accomplices as exhibits in a living museum, imprisoned there because of some sort of unsavory undermining of authority (or maybe they just got freaked out by Badu’s hair).

The video was directed by Alan Ferguson, who previously directed the clip for Monae’s “Many Moons” and has also guided spots for Beyoncé, Katy Perry, and Fall Out Boy.

Check out the clip below, which stars Monae as herself and Badu as “Badoula Oblongata,” which is a fantastic alter ego. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 29 2013 04:46 PM ET

Mika and Ariana Grande remix 'Wicked' song 'Popular'

“Popular” isn’t actually the most popular song from Broadway’s ten-years-running phenomenon Wicked (that honor belongs to “Defying Gravity”), but it’s certainly one of the most hummable ditties in the show.

And now British singer Mika, that lover of Grace Kelly and purveyor of rainbow lollipops, has teamed up with post-Nickelodeon pop star Ariana Grande to release a radio-ready remix of the song, which originally appeared on his third album The Origin of Love with a more eclectic arrangement (and a few more expletives) than the one embedded here.

Mika recently performed the track with original Wicked star Kristin Chenoweth in New York City, but Ariana Grande — unlike most TV starlets-turned-singers — actually has a pretty impressive set of pipes, too. Give the song a listen, and watch the Mad Hatter-esque clip below: READ FULL STORY »

Apr 29 2013 10:50 AM ET

On the scene at Vampire Weekend's AmEx 'Unstaged' concert in New York, directed by Steve Buscemi

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Image Credit: Donald Bowers/Getty Images

Ivy League rockers Vampire Weekend have always been a unique musical math equation: One part house-party pop and two parts sonic safari, multiplied by Cape Cod plus keyboards, all squared by the new millennium.

The New York foursome took the stage at the Roseland Ballroom as part of American Express’ “Unstaged” series last night — its past alumni include Jack White, the Killers, and Coldplay, matched up with directors like Wernor Herzog and Gary Oldman; watch previous clips here — on the final night of the Tribeca Film Festival. And with the set’s turned-up bass drum and synchronized lights, the Roseland suddenly felt less like a rock venue than full-on dance hall. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 22 2013 11:45 AM ET

Lana Del Rey's 'The Great Gatsby' contribution 'Young and Beautiful': Hear it here!

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Remember a year ago, when the Internet couldn’t shut up Lana Del Rey’s debut, Born to Die? The lovers and haters may never reconcile, but she’s still out there feeding the music-blog machine.

Case in point: This morning, Del Rey pulled back the curtain on “Young and Beautiful,” her contribution to the Jay-Z curate soundtrack for Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby (which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, and a general lack of tasteful restraint).

“Young and Beautiful” has appeared in ads for the film, which makes sense because like seemingly all of Lana Del Rey’s catalog, it’s a sweeping epic about being young forever and going to parties. It asks a question at the center of Luhrmann’s film: “Will you still love me when I’m no longer young and beautiful?”

Listen below: READ FULL STORY »

Apr 19 2013 04:20 PM ET

Record Store Day 2013: What's on your must-have list for the annual vinyl bonanza? Here's ours

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This Saturday, April 20, a great yearly tradition arrives once again.

No, not that one. We’re talking about the sixth annual Record Store Day, which pays tribute to the independently-owned record stores that were once ubiquitous but are often now fighting just to stay afloat in in the iTunes and Amazon age.

The day is more than just a tribute to the fetishization of vinyl; it also honors the sense of community that comes when a bunch of music obsessives get together to talk about their favorite stuff — and kick-fight in the aisles over a limited-edition Roky Erikson 7-inch, or whatever their coveted object may be. (Check out the impressively large list of stores that are participating in this year’s festivities.)

Though there are plenty of live in-store performances, signings, and giveaways, the main attraction has become the vinyl releases that surface for one day only (and then for an eternity on eBay). This year’s list doesn’t have the same parade of heavy hitters as last year’s, but there are still plenty of goodies worth seeking.

I love Record Store Day, mostly because I just love record stores. I’ll be celebrating this year at my home base during my high school years, and here’s what I’ll be searching for:  READ FULL STORY »

Apr 18 2013 11:38 AM ET

Fall Out Boy pay tribute to Spinal Tap on 'Conan': Watch here!

Fall Out Boy just dropped their latest (and actually very good) album Save Rock and Roll, and though their song titles are not as pun-tacular as they used to be, the band clearly hasn’t lost its sense of humor.

On last night’s episode of Conan, the band busted out Save Rock and Roll‘s first single “My Songs Know What You Did In the Dark” with a little help from the famous “Rock and Roll Creation” pods from This Is Spinal Tap.

When one of the pods failed to open (as they are wont to do) and imprisoned bassist Pete Wentz, Tap’s own bassist Derek Smalls (a.k.a. actor and writer Harry Shearer) filled in on the low end.

He brought along some pals, too. Check out the entirety of Fall Out Boy’s performance on last night’s episode of Conan below: READ FULL STORY »

Apr 17 2013 12:08 PM ET

Beyonce and Jay-Z are a billion-dollar couple, probably

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Image Credit: Larry Busacca/WireImage

How much money are Beyoncé and Jay-Z worth, really?

The answer: $1 billion dollars, according to the International Business Times, with a caveat or three. These are rough figures, and that worth is cumulative, not that they make that much all at once — but it’s grounded in a lot of evidence that the couple makes a lot of money.

READ FULL STORY »

Apr 17 2013 11:12 AM ET

Lauryn Hill asks for leniency in sentencing for tax evasion -- citing 'Threats to herself and family'

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Image Credit: David Wolff – Patrick/Getty Images

After pleading guilty to tax evasion last June, multiple Grammy winner and former Fugee Lauryn Hill is making one last ditch effort to avoid jail time.

In advance of her scheduled sentencing this Monday, April 22, Hill filed legal documents requesting that her sentence be limited to probation, as it would make it easier for her to pay back the bill she owes for the three years—2005, 2006, and 2007—she did not file taxes.

Over those three years, Hill earned a reported $1.8 million, but the documents explain she did not pay the IRS because she “withdrew from society at large due to what she perceived as manipulation and very real threats to herself and her family.”

Hill made similar statements in a blog post when the charges were first brought against her, adding that she had largely disappeared from public view because of the “climate of hostility, false entitlement, manipulation, racial prejudice, sexism and ageism” in popular culture.  READ FULL STORY »

Apr 16 2013 04:40 PM ET

PSY's 'Gentleman' video passes 100 million views on its fourth day

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Around this time last year, PSY was strictly a Korean concern. No more: the international sensation now has another viral hit on his hands with the “Gentleman” video, which has amassed more than 100 million views on only its fourth day on YouTube.

The fast success of “Gentleman,” which was released on Saturday, far outstrips the initial performance of “Gangnam Style,” which hit YouTube on July 15 of last year and didn’t pass the 100-million mark until Sept. 4. And while it’s been panned by many critics, “Gentleman” seems to be fairly well-liked: the video’s YouTube page has more than a million thumbs-ups from viewers, while the number of thumbs-downs had yet to top 200,000 at the time of this post.

The new clip, Reuters reports, racked up more than 20 million hits in the 24 hours following its release — unprecedented for a music video. (Bieber’s “Boyfriend,” for comparison, held the previous record by earning 8 million views on the day of its debut.)

Of course, “Gentleman” still has a long way to go before it can overtake “Gangnam Style,” which famously became the first YouTube video to surpass a billion views last December. In fact, that number has since risen above the 1.5 billion mark, giving it a secure lead as YouTube’s most-viewed video of all time. Yet “Gentleman” still has a chance: A Wall Street Journal analysis predicts that the new video has a fair shot at reaching the one-billion milestone even faster than “Gangnam Style” did.

But those two songs aren’t PSY’s only online hits. On YouTube’s chart of its most-viewed videos, PSY’s collaboration with fellow K-pop star HyunA ranks at No. 19 with more than 330 million views. The man, it seems, is on a roll.

So since everybody else is doing it, why don’t you give in and be the 100,000,001st person to view PSY’s “Gentleman” video, conveniently embedded below? Come on, you know you want to:

READ FULL STORY »

Apr 16 2013 03:37 PM ET

Listen to Jay-Z's 'The Great Gatsby' soundtrack sampler, featuring Fergie, Lana Del Rey, Jack White and more

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Image Credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images

No matter how The Great Gatsby does at the box office when it finally arrives in theaters next month, it’s eclectic, star-studded soundtrack is already a newsmaker.

Curated by Jay-Z, the Gatsby soundtrack includes tracks by Jay himself, Beyoncé, Jack White, Fergie, Sia, Lana Del Rey, the xx and more. Twelve of the 14 total core tracks are currently available in snippet form on YouTube, which you can stream below.

Highlights include Florence Welch wailing on the track “Over the Love” and the swing version of Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love” delivered by Emeli Sandé.

There’s also the already-released “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody” by Fergie, Q-Tip, and GoonRock, which must be ironically titled given the fate of one Gatsby‘s main characters.

Listen to these, as well as Jack White’s cover of U2′s “Love Is Blindness” (as featured in the trailer to the film), a spin below: READ FULL STORY »

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